The concept of a “virtual desktop” has met with success in certain usages, such as UNIX workstations. The idea of a virtual desktop is that a user's window manager's desktop is larger than his or her display; i.e., the system typically only shows the user a fraction of the desktop at any given time. To work with other parts of the desktop, the user must use his or her keyboard, or move the mouse to a specified area of the display, such as a corner, to navigate to another part of the desktop. A typical system might have a 1280 by 1024 pixel display but an 8000 by 8000 pixel virtual desktop.
A virtual desktop system can significantly improve spatial organization. Given the extra desktop “real estate,” the user can organize windows of particular applications around different tasks and can switch between tasks without closing windows or re-opening others. Rather, the user scrolls the display to the appropriate part of the virtual desktop.
For instance, a user may use one portion of the virtual desktop to organize several webpages. One part of the desktop may contain pages about stock purchases. One page may contain information about each stock. Another page may contain access to an online brokerage account. The user may simultaneously have other web pages open on another portion of the desktop about technical literature that they have been researching. Still another portion of the desktop may contain web pages listing job advertisements that the user has been considering.
Similarly, virtual desktops can be used to organize different applications by task. One portion of the virtual desktop might contain the user's mail and calendaring tools. Another portion of the desktop might contain the user's software development tools such as compilers, debuggers, sample applications, etc. Finally, another portion of the user's desktop might contain art development tools. Again, the user can switch between these different tasks more easily than opening and closing windows.
The importance of virtual desktops in handheld computers is even greater due to their limited screen real estate. Such devices typically have very limited display sizes, i.e., typically approximately 320×240 pixels.
Despite advantages over a conventional windowing system, state-of-the-art virtual desktop systems have drawbacks. First, most systems implemented in handheld computers require the use of two hands for input. For example, the user must hold the handheld computer in one hand and must use the other hand to move a pen stylus across the display. Since handheld computers are often used when carrying items in a “free” hand, input by a stylus or in a similar fashion is problematic. Additionally, systems that have attempted to provide “one-handed” maneuvering, for instance by using an accelerometer to detect movement of the handheld computer, do not provide an intuitive interface with the virtual desktop because movement through the virtual desktop does not necessarily correlate with real-world movements.